Method and means for treating motor fuels



oct. 22, 1935.

P. PoErscHKl:A

METHOD AND MEANS FOR TREATING MOTOR FULS Filed Oct. 15. 19552l lNvl-'zN'ro f PAUL PoerscHKE BY ,7M

f f/ ////,//////l f ATToRNEYs .Patented Oct. 22, 1935 PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR TBEATING MOTOR FUELS Paul Poetsclike, Forest Hills, N. Y. Application October 15, 1932, Serial No. 638,005

This invention relates to improvements in motor fuels, and has more particular relation to im-l provements in anti-knock compositions and carriers or methods for safely dispensing and adding l such compositions in measured quantities to untreated fuel to increase their critical compression pressures and avoid fuel knocks. J

'I'he principal object of the invention is toimprove the means for safely transporting and stor- 10 ing the anti-knock composition in measured quantities.

Another object of the invention is to improve the quality and performance of gasoline or other anti-knock motor fuel which is treated with the anti-knock composition at the location where it is dispensed for motor use either in cars, planes, boats, tractors or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide .a cartridge for addition to plain motor fuel which 20 will impart anti-knock qualities and also at the same time provide a lubricant for the combustion chamber of the motor.

A -still further object is to provide a cartridge containing anti-knock substances for gasoline,

g5 said cartridge having a high melting point and free from any ingredients which when added to,

the gasoline will be detrimental to the motor.

There are also other objects,. all of which will be hereinafter more particularly set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of one of my improved composition cartridges or pellets containing a solid anti-knock compound.

35 Figure 2 represents a vertical section through 'the same.

Figure 3 represents a central vertical section through a modiiled form of metal cartridge.

Figure 4 represents a further modied form of 40 cartridge having a shell provided with a special lining. and

Figure 5 represents a central vertical section of modified form of cartridge having a powder core.

In the dispensing of motor fuels it has become 45 a general practice to treat gasoline and other fuels having lwcritical compression pressures with compounds for raising these critical compression pressures to a point where the fuel knocks of such lo'w compression gasolines are 50 practically eliminated when used in gasoline engines and especially in engines of the so-called "high compression types.

Die anti-knock compounds used are mostly of a poisonous nature, and for this reason they con- :55 stitute a health hazard and certain Federal restrictions have been thrown about their use by 4 the Surgeon Generals Oillce. This is especially true of the most widely used of such compounds containing lead and consisting of tetra-ethyl lead, ethylene-bromide, ethylene-chloride and red dye. 5 Because of the poisonous mixture, extreme care must be taken in handling it and when combining it with gasoline, kerosene, or other motor fuels.

This combination of the anti-knock mixture with the plain fuel has heretofore been accomplished at a central plant and the combined mixture sold and dispensed directly from fuel 'pumps into the fuel tanks ofcars, planes, boats, etc. This dispensing has been of a complete ahtiknock fuel, and such fuels are sold with wamings against using them for any other purpose than as motor fuels.

The present invention has been carried out with these peculiarrestrictions and inhibitions in mind and to meet a situation with a product safe from mis-use by humans or animals.

In the production and dispensing of the present combined motor fuel, withmthe tetra-ethyl lead therein or any other equally poisonous product, the restrictions imposed call for separate dispensing pumps and the apparatus for such fuel must therefore be provided in addition to the regular gasoline pumps or dispensers. Thisv greatly increases the cost of handling the fuel and in many instances precludes its dispensing altogether as many stations cannot afford to in- 4 stall a double set of pumps or dispensers.

, With the present invention, however, single pumps may be installed for dispensing regular gasoline and this gasoline treated with thel antiknock composition at the time it is loaded into cara-planes or the like.

Further, the advantages of anti-knock fuels are very desirable in Army and Navy motors, es- 40 pecially in airplanes having high compression. However, in actual use, during times of warfare, it is not always practical for a plane, a submarine, tractors and the like to secure the gasoline which has already been treated with anti-knock com- ,45 pound and to overcome such diiliculties such planes and other Government Army and Navy equipment have been in the habit of carrying tetra-ethyl lead in containers in a liquid form' so that they could treat ordinary gasoline that they might secure at unusual and isolated points of supply.

The present invention is particularly desir-- able in such instances- `as `the treating` compound :can be safely carried :in confined .spaces without 1&5

lead, and mount the same temporarily in a metal container 4 having a cover 5 which is secured to the container by suitable seal 6 of wax like metal or the like which may be broken by the thumbnail. After the core is placed -in the container 4 a disc of stearic acid and naphthalene 'I is forced down over the top of the same to seal the core in the metal container. 'Ihis container has the double advantage of the sealing disc 1 and the sealing cover 5 and is particularly desirable for use in airplanes or the like where in storing and carrying the cartridges they may be subjected to rough handling or shocks.

In this latter form of my invention, the seal 6 is ruptured with the linger nail, the cover 5 removed, the stearic acid seal 1 broken either with the iinger or a knife and the core dumped into the gasoline together with the stearic acid sealing material.

' In the form of my invention shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4, I prefer to enclose the pellet in some waterproof transparent substance such as cellophane, to give added protection to its contents.

Also in the form of invention shown in Figure 3, the separate container in which the vcore is mounted may be made of wax paper, bre or the like as well as metal.

In order to prevent any internal pressure on the core compound from any cause such as being subjected to high temperatures or the like, I also contemplate providing one or more channels or passages in the core compound either centrally or otherwise located. In Figure 4 I have shown such a central passage.

As in some instances it is desirable to reduce the period necessary for the capsuleV to dissolve in the fuel, I also contemplate forming the core of the solidified core material reduced to a powder or granular form II, this ocupying the entire interior of the outer shell as shown in Figure 5.`

It will be understood that the passage l0 5 through the solid core provides meansv for taking n up any undue expansion of the core, and preventing it cracking or disrupting the outer shell by such expansion.

I also contemplate forming the core separately 10 and somewhat smaller than the interior of the naphthalene casing so that should there be any undue expansion of the core, this expansion will be taken care of bythe air space between the exterior of the core and the interior of the 16 casing.

What I claim is:

1. A pellet comprising a stearic acid container and a solid core comprising tetra-ethyl lead and stearic acid.

2. A pellet comprising a stearic acid container and a solid core comprising powdered tetra-ethyl lead and stearic acid.

3. A pellet comprising a container of stearicV acid and naphthalene and a core .containing 25 tetra-ethyl lead.

4. A pellet comprising a container sealed with solid stearic acid and a core containing tetraethyl lead.

5. A pellet comprising a container of stearic acid and naphthalene and a solid core of tetraethyl lead and stearic acid.`

6. A hydrocarbon soluble solid pellet containing tetra-ethyl lead, stearic acid and naphthalene.

' PAUL PoE'rscrnzE. 

